BAPTISM

"Baptism....now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but
the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
1 Peter 3:21

Eric's Baptism Testimony
September 26, 1999

Today is almost four years to the day since I’ve accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior.

I’ve learned a lot in the four years since Jesus offered His grace to me. I’d like to say my life has been one of steady progress since, but it has actually been a rocky road.

I guess there are two main reasons for that. I had always believed before I became a Christian that if your were a relatively good person and believed in God, you would go to Heaven. In a way, I merely substituted the name of “Jesus” into the phrase “believe in God,” since I don’t think I fully let go of the idea of securing my own eternal destiny.

The second reason was that I thought I could get by by being what I call a “free lance Christian.” I thought that things like going to church were a bonus, but that it isn’t necessary for salvation.

That is true. But it ignores the fact that we can’t be Christian on our own. We need the fellowship and the accountability, the encouragement and the biblical learning that comes from committing to a congregation of believers. To truly become a part of the “body” of Christ, we must learn to love one another in our hearts, our actions, and our thoughts.

In the Bible, Jesus speaks of the Pharisees who were so good on the outside but evil on the inside. Jesus taught that though one may in action follow the Ten Commandments, our thoughts break them. Think harm upon your brother and you have murdered him in your heart. Look lustfully upon your neighbor’s wife and you have committed adultery with your thoughts.

The lesson here is that no one can possibly make himself good enough for Heaven. To be blunt, we all deserve eternal damnation.

That is only half of the story, however.

Jesus also shows us that no one is bad enough to be exempt from God’s love. This is why Jesus died on the cross. He took upon his innocent Self the sins of the world, clearing those who come to the Father in the name of Jesus of their guilt.

So, it wasn’t until relatively recently that I have come to truly understand what it means to be a Christian. You see, that prideful, selfish core that is within all of us still wanted to say that I could earn God’s love and that I could earn my way into Heaven. Part of me felt that by saying that prayer four years ago I in fact had “earned” my way into heaven. That is far from the case: It was Jesus who saved me.

I thank God that He has chosen me for salvation, offering through the Holy Spirit His grace to me, of which I have humbly accepted. Humbly, because I know I don’t deserve it.

I am here today in resignation of the fact that I can’t possibly make myself good enough for heaven, yet I recognize that if I stumble, God has already forgiven me.

I am here today as a statement of my faith, and as an expression of my obedience to God’s will, even to death upon the cross. And I am here as a witness to God’s glory and His Sovereignty over my life.

It is my prayer that those I love, my family and friends, would all hear the call of Jesus, repent of their sins as I have, and accept God’s awesome offer of salvation.

Eric

Bonnie